Daily Press Cuttings

Friday 8th December 2000 (Summary by Davinda Kaur and Sophia Mahmud)

Financial Times: Ghana: Ghanaians turned out en masse yesterday to vote for a new president as Jerry Rawlings, the flamboyant head of state who has dominated the country for the past two decades, prepares to stand down. Mr Rawlings, a former, flight-lieutenant who first took power in a coup in 1979, has established himself as the longest-serving Ghanaian president since independence from Britain in 1957. Of seven candidates seeking to succeed him the frontrunners are John Atta Mills, current vice president and candidate for the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), and John Kufuour, leader of the main opposition National People's Party. Candidates have committed themselves to resuscitating an economy caught in a balance of payments crisis that has slowed growth to as little as 1 per cent this year. Falling cocoa and gold prices and the high oil price have all adversely affected Ghana. Angola: Angola is set to use diamonds and oil to repay to Russia its outstanding Soviet-era military debt, estimated by Russian officials at about $4 billion. The two sides are working out a scheme which would see the debt paid back and increase Russia's presence in developing Angola's new diamond deposits. World Trade: FT leader says that a year on from the disastrous WTO meeting in Seattle, signs are emerging that trade policy-makers are trying to shake off the paralysis induced by the collapse. Brussels has launched a series of trade initiatives, Asia is gripped by a dubious enthusiasm for bilateral deals and in the US, trade is billed as a priority for a future Bush administration. UN/Sanctions: The 10 years since the end of the cold war have become known as the Sanctions Decade at the UN. Now the world's' diplomats are asking whether this weapon ahs been effective in enabling global action, or is merely proof of UN weakness. Philippines: Philippine president Joseph Estrada ran a criminal gambling syndicate from the presidential palace, his impeachment trial was told yesterday. Japan: Japan's government is under pressure from within the ruling coalition to cut its contribution to multilateral organisations such as the World Bank, due to growing domestic demands for curbs in overseas spending. Japan's direct aid and subsidised loans are the largest in the world, at around Yen 1500 billion (£9.4 billion) a year.

The Economist: Pakistan: The IMF has agreed with Pakistan a standby loan of $596 million to help Pakistan avoid defaulting on its international debt. Conditions attached include extending the sales tax, slashing government borrowing and spending, ending sd exemptions. Any slip up will lead to a freezing of the loan. Pakistan has $1 billion in debt repayment overdue and another $2.5 billion will pile up by the start of next year.

The Times: Guinea: Hundreds of villagers have been killed and thousands more have fled their homes during fierce fighting in Guinea. Philippines: President ran the Philippines like a gang land boss, prosecutors told the opening of his impeachment trial yesterday.

The Guardian: Chile: In Chile, on Monday judges are to decide whether to overrule a lower court order for the house arrest of Pinochet.

The Independent: Marxist rebels in Columbia detonated a car bomb at a police station yesterday, killing up to 11 people. South Africa: After final results yesterday confirmed the ANC had won 59% of votes in the local elections, the trend towards changing places names in South Africa covers cities, rivers, streets and even dams.

Guinea: Hundreds have been killed in a rebel raid in Guinea. Sudan/US: Accused of subversion, a US diplomat has been expelled from Sudan - given 72 hours to leave the country.

The International Herald Tribune: Ethiopia - Addis Ababa, chief of police was killed after he attempted a coup against president Ismael Omar Guelleh. Mexico - The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has ruled the Guatemalan Army tortured and killed a Mayan rebel leader who disappeared in 1992. Ghana - Ghanaians headed to the polls Thursday in elections that will end the 19 year rule of Jerry Rawlings, who served eight years as elected president.

Business Week: Mexico - Fox names business people to his Cabinet in hopes of making the country an efficient growth machine.

Venezuela - President Chavez is wielding his favourite weapon - referendums- and this time he is rallying voters to reign in corrupt unions. Taiwan - the debt mess is worse than expected and President Chen is under pressure to fix it. The descent of the global finance vultures on Taiwan shows how serious the country's troubles have become. New laws have been passed which have removed legal obstacles, and have made it easier for banks to dispose of bad loans, which everyone is hiding. The bill is viewed as a badly need victory for Chen, but cleaning up the mess will not be easy.

Thursday 7th December 2000 (Summary by Davinda Kaur and Sophia Mahmud)

International Herald Tribune: IMF/Istanbul - The IMF announced on Wednesday $7.5 billion in emergency aid for Turkey to halt a financial crisis that threatens the national economy as well as that of other emerging markets. Two weeks of financial crises along with several bank failures increased interest rates to high as 2,000 percent and sapped the stock market of 40% of its value as foreign investors fled Turkish markets. Mexico City - Adolfo Aguilar Zinser, chief of Mexico's new national security council said on Tuesday that he will unravel illegal government wiretaps that politicians and police have used 'not to fight crime, but to fight criticism'. Côte d'Ivoire: Abidjan has returned to normality after two days of political and ethnic violence, due to a Supreme court decision last week to disqualify the former President and main opposition leader, from running in elections. Indonesia: Sjahril Sabirin, the governor of Indonesia's central bank returned to work yesterday after nearly six months in detention. He was accused of authorising an illegal payment to PT Bank Bali of 904 billion rupiah ($16.9 billion). Sabirin denies the accusations.

The Guardian: South Africa: The ANC has been stung by a significant drop in support, which cost it control of one of South Africa's most important cities in yesterdays municipal elections. Uganda: UK based charity ADD (Action on Disability and Development) has encouraged thousands of Ugandans to form self-help groups and lobby for themselves. More than 80% of Uganda's 2,500,000 million disabled were born able-bodied but fell victim to war or disease. Uganda's affirmative action policy was drawn up by the National Union of Disabled People in Uganda, which was formed and is funded by ADD.

The Independent: South Africa: The opposition alliance of white liberals and former apartheid leaders established itself yesterday as a lasting force in the countries politics after making a strong showing in local elections.

The Times: Zimbabwe: Amid early signs of food shortages next year, President Mugabe rebuffed UN advice to modify his land reforms. Turkmenistan: An earthquake registering 7 on the Richter scale shook Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan yesterday. There were no reports of deaths or injuries.

Financial Times: IMF/Turkey: The IMF yesterday surprised financial markets with the scale of a new $7.5 Billion emergency loan for Turkey, aimed at restoring investor confidence and saving vital economic reforms. The government in return signalled its intention to deal swiftly with a troubled banking system. Kenya: Kenya's banking sector yesterday began a profound reassessment of its future after the county's parliament passed a bill capping lending and deposit rates , and established a Monetary Policy Committee to determine treasury bill rates. Philippines: The Philippine government is to boost investment in the economy in the new year to counter fears that growth may falter further as a result of the political crisis, over the impeachment of Estrada, who has been accused of being more corrupt than Marcos.

The Daily Telegraph: Brazil: The Brazilian Congress wound up a two year investigation into drug trafficking yesterday, recommending that more than 800 politicians, judges, lawyers and police officers face trial on charges of organised crime or tax evasion.

Wednesday 6th December 2000

IHT: Chad: When President Idriss Deby declared last week that he had used $4.5 million of the government's first oil receipts to buy weapons instead of bolstering social programmes, he sent a jolt through the World Bank. While the amount diverted is relatively small, officials, diplomats and advocacy groups expressed shock at its brazenness and concern that it might signal how Mr Deby might deal with future oil revenue. Mr Deby, a general who seized power in a coup in 1990, accepted two independent boards—one Chadian and one World Bank supervised international body—to audit the spending of all oil revenue. He also agreed that 10 per cent of the receipts would go to a trust account abroad. About 80 per cent of Chadians survive by labouring to grow their own food often in near desert conditions. Fewer than 3 in 10 can read and write.

The Guardian: Uganda: The Ugandan doctor, Alex Opio, who has been leading the battle against the Ebola fever, died from the virus yesterday as te death toll rose to 156.

Financial Times: UK/Money laundering: British authorities will be able to move quickly to freeze the assets of foreign criminals, under legislation in today's Queen Speech. The reform should prevent a repeat of the government's difficulties over the case of Sani Abacha, the late dictator of Nigeria who looted more than £2.8 billion out of the country during his rule. It emerged in October that British authorities had not acted on a four month old request by Nigeria to freeze bank accounts in London connected with the money-laundering. World Bank/sanctions/trade: The World Bank has published a report saying that trade sanctions with the ostensible aim of helping improve labour standards in poor countries are likely to backfire. The report, global Economic Prospects and Developing Countries also emphasises thte costs to developing countries of tariff barriers in developed countries. The cost is estimated at over twice the $50 billion in aid flows. NGOs: Non-governmental organisations such as Amnesty International and Greenpeace command far greater public trust in industrialised countries than do governments, companies and the media, according to a survey (by edelman Public Relations). The survey found that 14 per cent of the public trust the World Trade Organisation and 3 per cent the biotech firm Monsanto. Turkey: FT leader says that the IMF emergency package to tackle the chaos in Turkey's financial markets is the best hope of keeping Turkish reform process on track.

The Times: Chile: The Court of Appeal yesterday suspended a house arrest order against General Augusto Pinochet. Côte d'Ivoire: A second day of street violence left at least eight people killed in clashes between crowds and security forces in various parts of Abidjan. Burundi: Machine-gun fire hit a Sabena airliner as it approached Burundi capital, Bujumbura, injuring a passenger and crew member.

The Independent on Sunday: (26/11/00) Kenya: Desperation and lawlessness are emerging as the barren legacy of president Daniel arap Moi's 22 years in power. the economy is forecast to grow by 0.5 per cent, wevere electricity rationaing has hit business and closed factories; unemployed men crowd the street corners. Two years of continuous drought have forced four million Kenyans on to emergency food aid, making it the most dependent country in the region after Ethiopia.

Tuesday 5th December 2000

WSJ (Monday 4^th December): Debt Relief/UK: According to the editorial, Gordon Brown's plan isn't actually debt relief. Mr Brown is “only pledging to forgive interest payments, not the loans themselves and only a dozen or so nations including Cameroon, Honduras and Senegal will receive interest-payment relief in the short term. The others will still have to make interest payments which will be held in trust until those plagued with corruption and war mend their ways” which it says, given the conditions set- peace and honest administration- could be a long time before they receive their trust-fund cheques. The article points out that those who will soon be allowed to stop paying interest will have to spend the money on education, health care and anti-poverty measures that are approved by the British government- “hardly debt forgiveness”. Although it quotes Jubilee 2000 as saying “it is simply wrong to wring payments out of the poor” the article goes on to says that whilst the paper has no quarrel with religious conviction or thoughtful charity, “forgiveness could also be considered morally questionable.”

Financial Times: Angola: Angola has promised to repay a $50m loan from De Beers which it has never serviced. The loan made in 1992 was part of an agreement for marketing rights for diamonds from the north-eastern Cuango valley however arrangements were thwarted after the peace accord collapsed and Unita rebels captured Cuango. The Angolan government estimates having lost $4bn worth of stones before it returned to the region in 1997. Indonesia: Jakarta will allow aspects of Sharia law to replace parts of the current legal system in almost completely Muslim Aceh as part of a plan for regional autonomy. According to Yusrizal of the Coalition for Human Rights, it “is a political con from Jakarta to try to make Aceh appear to be a militant Islamic state and to isolate it from the international community”. Argentina: Jose Machinea, the economy minister, said an announcement of the IMF resuce package was likely to follow once the government's spending plans were approved by the Senate. Argentina accounts for up to a quarter of tradable emerging market debt and there are fears over possible contagion if the country were unable to keep servicing its foreign debt.

Independent: AIDS: Aids campaigners and Third World ministers claim that European Countries, under pressure to protect the profits of their own drug companies are blocking efforts by Third World countries to buy Aids drugs at affordable prices. According to Ben Jackson, director of the London-bases Acton for Southern Africa, Britain and the EU have intimidated South Africa into not challenging the WTO rules to override patents and limit excessive profits by drug companies when faced with an emergency on the scale of HIV-Aids. Currently under the rules, pharmaceutical companies are allowed to set the price of their medicines in different countries, irrespective of production costs. Chile: The President of Chile, Ricardo Lagos, yesterday summoned an emergency meeting of the heads of the army, navy, air force and police to discuss the impact of the arrest warrant served on General Augusto Pinochet for murder and kidnapping. Also, Norman Lamont become the first foreigner to be awarded the “Star of Honour and Merit” by the Augusto Pinochet Foundation in Chile, for “his extraordinary and valiant attitude in defending Senator Pinochet”. Côte d'Ivoire: Laurent Gbagbo, the country's newly elected President, declared an overnight curfew and a week-long state of emergency after 5 people were killed in political riots that erupted after a court ordered that the Muslim former Prime Minister, Alassane Ouattara, be excluded from next Sunday's parliamentary election.

IHT: Venezuela: President Hugo Chavez appears to have won a significant political victory as Venezuelans ignored threats of an international boycott and claims of illegal government intervention in union affairs, and voted to remove leaders of the country's largest labour organisation, the million member Venezuelan Workers' Confederation, who remained as one of the few pockets of opposition to Mr Chavez's “democratic revolution”.

Daily Telegraph: Nigeria: Measures to retrieve Nigeria, says Peter Foster's article “Nigeria burdened by legacy of corruption” are being taken- national debts estimated at £21bn are being rescheduled, anti-corruption laws are on the statute book, and President Obasanjo has ordered a Human Rights Commision to investigate the dark years under a succession of military dictatorships. Nonetheless, Nigeria is in a mess comments Foster. Almost zero investment in electricity, santitation, transportation and communications has been made in the last 20 years, average life expectancy is 50, less than half the population have access to clean water, health care is a luxury of the rich and Aids is running at 10% of the population.

Monday 4th December 2000

Financial Times: Jubilee 2000/UK: The UK's decision to write off debt repayments from 41 of the world's poorest countries has been welcomed by campaign groups, which said that other countries could follow suit. Bob Geldof, the musician and founder of Live Aid, praised Gordon Brown, the Chancellor. “It means Britain absolutely leaps ahead of other countries on a moral platform. Mr Brown said on Saturday that debt repayments from countries that had yet to win debt relief would be held in trust until they had in place planes to reduce poverty. Jubilee 2000 the debt relief campaign group is hoping that President Bill Clinton of the US will make a similar pledge. Currently countries are receiving on average a one-third reduction in repayments. Senegal for example has received a cut form $275 million to $172 million. “This is not nearly enough,” said Jubilee 2000. On Friday the IMF announced steps to accelerate the delivery of debt relief to Zambia, which would otherwise have suffered an increase in reapyments next year. Russia: Senior German and Russian official are set to meet in Moscow this month to draw up plans for a proposed swap of outstanding debts owed to Germany into equity in Russian companies currently held by the state. The plans could lead to a substantial rise in foreign ownership and control of Russian companies. Turkey: IMF officials last night began consultations with the Turkish authorities on urgent measures to stem a crisis in the banking sector and safeguard a wider economic reform programme. Environment: Scientists from Reading University in the UK have claimed that the hole in the ozone layer may close over in the next 50 years. Kenya: (Saturday's paper): Kenya's reform programme is under threat after parliament overwhelmingly supported a bill to control bank interest rates and threw back an ethics bill requiring MPs to declare their wealth.

The Guardian: (Saturday's paper) Jubilee 2000/UK: Britain is to renounce its right to interest payments on £1 billion owed by developing countries in a last-ditch attempt to secure financial help for 41 of the world's poorest states before an end-of-year deadline set by anti-poverty campaigners. Gordon Brown will unveil the initiative today at a farewell rally organised by Jubilee 2000, the group that has masterminded a four-year global debt protest. With only 20 of 41 heavily indebted poor countries likely to gain some relief this year, the British government will put a moratorium on payments from the other 21. Payments will instead be placed in a special trust fund until the countries have put in place poverty reduction plans. Jubilee 2000 welcomed the initiative but pointed out that Britain was only one creditor. Mexico: (Today's paper) The leader of the Zapatista rebels said at the weekend he was ready to travel to Mexico City and negotiate with the country's new president, Vicente Fox, for an end to the seven-year clash between the government and guerillas.

IHT: Ethiopia/Eritrea: Ethiopia and Eritrea have agreed to a final peace pact, bringing a formal close to a border war in the Horn of Africa that ended militarily in June after claiming tens of thousands of lives. Money laundering: Article argues that the world leaders are finally getting serious at stemming the amount of money laundering world-wide. A global economy, where every bank must be connected tot e electronic nervous system or die, it is going to be a lot harder for the pirates to hide.

Sunday Times: Zimbabwe: Article looks at the support given by Zimbabwe in training and equipment to Interahamwe militia in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Daily Express: Daily Express Leader says : Well done Gordon, now we must end poverty at home. Gordon Brown has taken the brave decision to write off £600million owed to Britain by 20 Third World states. The Chancellor also said that £1billion in interest payments owed by a further 21 states will be held in trust and returned to them when the Government is confident that it will be spent on poverty relief, not wasted on arms or corruption. The Daily Express has led the calls for the cancellation of these debts, which have long been a major cause of poverty in the Third World. Today we lead the chorus of praise directed to the Government, and to Mr Brown in particular, for having the courage to take such a radical step. We also urge him to keep up the pressure on other countries to match his good sense and generosity so that the world can achieve the goal of halving poverty, giving every child in the world primary education and preventing every avoidable infant death by 2015. But as we focus on this important target, we should not ignore the problems on our own doorstep. As the charity Barnardo's reveals today, one British child in every three is now living below the poverty line, three times more than in 1980, and higher than any other country in Europe.

The Independent: Zimbabwe: President Mugabe warned whites they risked expulsion unless they stop fighting his land reform plan in court. Philippines: Filipinos have recently been demonstrating and protesting in Manila, preparing to impeach President Estrada. Indonesia: Indonesian police seized the headquarters of the independence movement in the province of Papua yesterday, the day after eight people were killed in battles between security forces and local rebels armed with bows and arrows. Chile: The head of the Chilean army said yesterday he was considering whether to convene the National Security Council to discuss a judge's order for the arrest of General Augusto Pinochet.

The Times: South Africa: South Africa's last whites only laager is facing amalgamation with neighbouring black townships after local government elections tomorrow. Nelson Mandela, the former president has accused the opposition Democratic Alliance of being led by white bosses supported by black stooges.

The Mirror: (Saturday's paper): Britain will not take another penny in debt repayments from the world's poorest countries. The deal covers 21 countries, who owe Britain £1 billion.

Sunday Times: Jubilee 2000/UK: Britain is to host an international conference early next year aimed at eradicating global child poverty, the Chancellor announced yesterday. Addressing a Jubilee 2000 conference in London he confirmed that he has extended to 41 the number of poor countries from which it is prepared to write off £1 billion in debt.

Sunday Telegraph: Jubilee 2000/UK: Picture of the Jubilee 2000 rally in London, where campaigners welcomed Gordon Brown's pledge to reduce further third world debt.

The Observer: Jubilee 2000/UK: Former musician and founder of Live Aid, Bob Geldof, paid a remarkable tribute to Gordon Brown yesterday after the Chancellor announced that debt repyments to Britain from 41 of the world's poorest countries would be written off. Geldof said that Brown had earned his place in history after the move which will save countries such as Sudan, Bolivia and Malawi up to £600 million. It marks the culmination of a year of work by Jubilee 2000. Ann Pettifor, Jubilee 2000 UK director, said: “To make a real difference, the Chancellor must now persuade the IMF, World Bank and the G7 to also accept that the rich can no longer get richer on the back of the poorest. With the poorest countries still paying £25 million each day to rich creditors, there's still a long way to go before the debt crisis is over.”

Further coverage of the Jubilee 2000 rally in the Sunday Express, Sunday Sport, News of the World and Independent on Sunday.